Researchers from the Department of Energy's SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory and Stanford University have for the first time shown that neural networks - a form of artificial intelligence - can accurately analyze the complex distortions in spacetime known as gravitational lenses 10 million times faster than traditional methods. "Analyses that typically take weeks to months to complete, that require the input of experts and that are computationally demanding, can be done by neural nets within a fraction of a second, in a fully automated way and, in principle, on a cell phone's computer chip," said postdoctoral fellow Laurence Perreault Levasseur, a co-author of a study published today in Nature. The team at the Kavli Institute for Particle Astrophysics and Cosmology (KIPAC), a joint institute of SLAC and Stanford, used neural networks to analyze images of strong gravitational lensing, where the image of a faraway galaxy is multiplied and distorted into rings and arcs by the gravity of a massive object, such as a galaxy cluster, that's closer to us. The distortions provide important clues about how mass is distributed in space and how that distribution changes over time - properties linked to invisible dark matter that makes up 85 percent of all matter in the universe and to dark energy that's accelerating the expansion of the universe. Until now this type of analysis has been a tedious process that involves comparing actual images of lenses with a large number of computer simulations of mathematical lensing models.

Uber Technologies Inc has officially welcomed its new Chief Executive Dara Khosrowshahi, who led online travel business Expedia for 12 years. He joined San Francisco-based Uber's all-hands staff meeting Wednesday to take questions from employees. 'This company has to change,' Khosrowshahi said to Uber's employees during the all-hands meeting in San Francisco on Wednesday. Ariana Huffington posted this selfie of new Chief Executive Dara Khosrowshahi (front row, second from right) at the firm's all hands meeting, where he was introduced by ex CEO Travis Kalanick (standing to his left). 'What got us here is not what's going to get us to the next level.'

A survey of 50 Nobel laureates asked about the greatest threats to mankind has revealed that environmental issues such as over-population and climate change are the biggest threat. Meanwhile, the threat of nuclear warfare and infectious diseases and drug resistance follows in second and third place. Distortion or the truth and ignorant political leaders also ranked highly, with President Donald Trump called out by name in this category. The survey drew responses from almost a quarter of the living Nobel prize winners for chemistry, physics, physiology, medicine and economics. A survey of 50 Nobel laureates posed the question: 'What is the biggest threat to humankind, in your view?

Finally, a martian rover to call your own. A Polish team of engineers who first created a rover in a NASA contest that eventually led to Curiosity have revealed a remote control, backpack-sized version of their'land drone' designed to be used on Earth. The $1400 'Turtle Rover' has a robot arm that can be remotely controlled, a HD camera for livestreaming, and can have everything from GoPro's to laser mapping attachments added to it. The'Turtle Rover' land drone is built on NASA-inspired suspension and can conquer every terrain and even be submerged under water, making it possible for everyone from researchers to wildlife photographers to explore what might otherwise be inaccessible parts of Earth Its makers boast it can conquer every terrain and even be submerged under water, making it possible for everyone from researchers to wildlife photographers. ''The only real limit is your imagination' are not just empty marketing words we use,' Simon Dzwonczyk, CEO and mechanical designer of Kell Ideas, the maker of Turtle Rover, told DailyMail.com.

MILES O'BRIEN: We're going to get a better picture tomorrow of how strong job creation is when the monthly employment report comes out. But whatever that snapshot looks like, there are concerns about the rise of robotics and automation, and what that means for the future of the work force. Our economics correspondent, Paul Solman, has been exploring that subject. PAUL SOLMAN: In Silicon Valley, author Vivek Wadhwa says he already lives in the future. OK, so, your car can open the garage door and greet you in the driveway?

The California DMV has just updated the list of companies that can test self-driving technologies in the state, and there's one notable addition: Samsung Electronics. In a statement, a company spokesperson confirmed that it's participating in California's Autonomous Vehicle Tester Program. However, he clarified that the Korean conglomerate still has "no plans to enter the car-manufacturing business." Samsung will instead continue to develop sensors that use its AI and deep learning software, as well as other components for autonomous vehicles. Samsung first got a permit to test self-driving technologies in its home country earlier this year.

Property insurers are preparing to fly dozens of drones over homes and businesses to assess damage in the wake of Tropical Storm Harvey, the first widespread use of unmanned aircraft to size up catastrophe claims. Insurers have been testing drones and using them on a small scale since getting Federal Aviation Administration approval in 2015 to use the technology for U.S. inspections. Drones provide aerial images that can help insurance adjusters inspect buildings faster and more safely, executives say, part of a larger industry effort to speed up time-consuming claims. The storm presents the first opportunity for some of these insurers to test their new fleets on a large scale. Harvey, which made landfall in Texas last week and moved to Louisiana on Wednesday, is estimated to have caused up to $20 billion in insurable damage.

Richard Anderson, the tall, handsome actor best known for costarring simultaneously in the popular 1970s television shows "The Six Million Dollar Man" and "The Bionic Woman," has died at age 91. Anderson died of natural causes on Thursday, family spokesman Jonathan Taylor told The Associated Press. "The Six Million Dollar Man" brought a new wave of supernatural heroes to television. Based on the novel "Cyborg" by Martin Caidin, it starred Lee Majors as U.S. astronaut Steve Austin, who is severely injured in a crash. The government saves his life by rebuilding his body with atom-powered artificial limbs and other parts, giving him superhuman strength, speed and other powers.

The recently launched LinkedIn Salary product has been designed with the goal of providing compensation insights to the world's professionals and thereby helping them optimize their earning potential. We describe the overall design and architecture of the statistical modeling system underlying this product. We focus on the unique data mining challenges while designing and implementing the system, and describe the modeling components such as Bayesian hierarchical smoothing that help to compute and present robust compensation insights to users. We report on extensive evaluation with nearly one year of de-identified compensation data collected from over one million LinkedIn users, thereby demonstrating the efficacy of the statistical models. We also highlight the lessons learned through the deployment of our system at LinkedIn.

There are many benefits that can come with the adoption and implementation of artificial intelligence (AI), but experts believe such widespread acceptance will lead to more effective and more dangerous cyberattacks. And that they'll happen soon. At this year's Black Hat cybersecurity conference, 100 attendees were polled about various aspects of artificial intelligence, and 62 percent said they firmly believe AI will be used by hackers within the next twelve months. Despite the idea that AI may be the best defense against such attacks, its increasing availability will likely lead to more advanced hacking techniques. Hackers have already hacked into huge institutions and disrupted the lives of many.